Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to handheld devices for holding items having handles, bags in general, carry-bags or handbags. More particularly, the present invention relates to an ergonomic handle to easily carry one or more bags or item at a time.
Description of the Related Art
In various day to day activities, such as carrying groceries and other items purchased from shopping centers, people carry bags, commonly referred to as handbags, plastic bags (with built in handles), reusable bags, purses, tote bags, and the like. Typically, a handbag includes a pouch for holding various items, and a hand strap connected with the pouch. These handbags are normally made of plastics, such as polyethylene, or polypropylene, or can be made from other textiles such as canvas, leather, cotton or cotton blend textiles and the like. It is very common that a person is required to carry several bags at one time, which increases the overall weight carried by the person, or the bulk from carrying multiple bags.
One of the primary complaints of those who engage in the common practice of carrying several heavy bags is that the handles of the bags exert great pressure on their hands.
The weight of the bags may also result in tiring the person. In a few cases, the weight of the handbag results in breaking of the hand straps. It may also result in muscular injury to the person carrying the handbag if it is not carried properly. Additionally, when numerous handbags need to be moved from one position, or location, to another, it will take various trips to and fro to transport all the bags. It is desirable to minimize the number of trips needed to transport the numerous bags from one location to another.
Accordingly, numerous handgrips, hanger devices, and related tools have been developed to ease the task of carrying handbags. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,581 assigned to Carmo et al. describes a hand grip for carrying bags which contains a single hook for holding the bags. Single hooks, as described in Carmo, however are not able to provide proper weight distribution in the case of carrying multiple bags. While US'581 illustrates a two-hook handgrip, the design does not easily allow for carrying multiple bags on one hook or distribute weight evenly for ease in carrying. U.S. Design Pat. No. D340,863 assigned to Daigle illustrates a carrier for plastic grocery bags, but the number of bags which can be carried is limited to 4 in this design.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,266 issued to Giocanti discloses a grip for carrying bags with loop handles with ends shaped to form hooks for carrying the bags and that is capable of being carried by hand or on a shoulder or forearm. However, a user cannot easily remove the device from his shoulder or forearm since this device has a “low” profile when slung over a shoulder or forearm and while also supporting the weight of the bags. Further, a user must direct the bags over the round boss to secure them in the hook and this can lead to a weak point at the boss based on frequency of use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,323 issued to Goddard discloses a carrier for bags having straps, comprising a handgrip portion with an article carrier portion cantilevered from one end thereof. A ring is used to close the opposite end of the two portions. However, this design has an asymmetric configuration which results in the highest portion of the hand actually supporting a disproportionate share of the load, as the closed end rests against the little finger of the hand. Other designs have been developed in the past to overcome the problems or differences mentioned above. However, it has been found that the designs of current devices for carrying items include the problems of weight mis-distribution, and result in non-balance of the user during use of the item. In light of the foregoing, there exists a need to provide a device that overcomes one or more shortcomings of hand grips described in the prior art.